Menstruation 101: Reality Of Period Practices In Rural India

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Women in rural India have been resorting to their own ways for many years. There are methods that are different from what we are familiar with. Sinu Joseph of ‘Mythri Speaks’ gives us an insight into menstrual practices in rural India.

The narrative on menstruation is changing and more awareness is being created on this topic to help first time bleeders understand the concept. The urban narrative on this topic is often laced with the word’s stigma, taboo, pain, traditional / cultural practices and the like which often create a negative attitude towards it. But is it the same rurally?

Sinu Joseph, founder of the NGO Mythri Speaks, disagrees there is a stigma surrounding menstruation. “From my observations on interacting with women across different sections of society and various communities across India, I have found that the attitude towards menstruation has turned negative or indifferent as women moved away from culturally centered ideas of menstruation”. Sinu learnt that rural and tribal women who have not been through a formal education system or have had minimal exposure to urban way of living, exhibit a positive and sometimes (seemingly) exaggerated enthusiasm towards menstruation as nature’s gift to women.

“My observation on the variations in attitude towards menstruation was corroborated when my team and I undertook a study (unpublished) of 1035 women across four districts in Karnataka, We found that overall 57.77% of those interviewed felt positive about menstruation, 23.38% felt indifferent and 18.84% had a negative attitude towards menstruation. Majority of women interviewed expressed a positive outlook towards menstruation, breaking the stereotypical assumption that Indian women associate shame with menstruation”, says Sinu.

Rural women would often smile, sometimes feel shy, but mostly say that menstruation was a positive occurrence in their life. In stark contrast, the urban women I interviewed would arrogantly shoot back a question asking ‘why on earth would anyone feel positive towards menstruation?’

“Stepping aside from the popular narratives which focus on menstrual products, our work has explored native methods and cultural practices around menstruation”, reveals Sinu.

Mythri Speaks has been dedicated to the cause of propagating women’s issues since 2014, and has earned its reputation as a grass-root development organization, based in Karnataka. With menstrual & reproductive health being one of its important programs, the organization has oriented thousands of rural adolescent girls and women through awareness workshops, across the states of Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu.

Taking a cue from her own unawareness and ignorance about menstruation in her teens and left with many unanswered questions, Sinu thought it was important to propagate menstrual awareness among girls and boys to help them understand it better.

Their Animation film ‘Mythri’ on menstruation, has reached over 4 million adolescent girls in government schools. Their content is available free of cost in 9 languages and has been used by governments, educators, researchers, NGOs, medical professionals and others.

Over the years, Sinu has worked extensively in this sphere. When it comes to picking the right sanitary product, she believes, “Women are sensible enough to make the right choices according to their circumstances”. Her experience and studies has made her realize that menstrual hygiene is important but at the same time, this can be maintained by various sanitary products. Studies show that linking menstrual hygiene to cervical cancer or any other menstrual disorder is a myth.

“The only thing bad menstrual hygiene can give you is a bacterial infection”, she says. Women in rural India have been resorting to their own ways for many years. “You should keep an open mind when you come across methods that are different from what you are familiar with. The focus should be on whether or not women are being affected by the method they follow rather than force them to change practices just for the sake of social engineering.”

Traditionally, Indian women used cotton cloth during menstruation, because they preferred it and not because of reasons such as inability to afford sanitary napkins or non-availability of such products. Even now, many women in India prefer cloth to any other commercially available menstrual product. It is necessary to understand why they have such a preference, especially when products such as sanitary napkins and tampons offer extra-long protection and lesser chances of staining.

Rural women have certain challenges while using sanitary products- main being its disposal. Cloth, therefore, becomes their most preferred option. In cases where women might complain of rashes, we must enquire about the type of cloth they use, the frequency of changing, the method of washing, drying and storing cloth. Knowledge on proper use can be given if we find that some of the practices might be causing problems. In some villages in Karnataka, women can now purchase a red cloth called “Date Batte” (Date refers to periods, and Batte means cloth) from the grocery shops. This is a soft cloth, quite suitable for menstrual blood absorption. Cloth pads are another option provided women use loose cloth that can be opened and dried in the sun. The stitched cloth pads being sold by NGOs might cause more problems because they cannot be opened up and exposed to full sunlight.

Tampons and menstrual cups require insertion of the product into the vagina using hands, it is necessary that high levels of hygiene and cleanliness is maintained. Most girls and women in villages do a lot of physical work with their hands – tilling the land, sowing seeds, harvesting crops, milking and bathing cattle, feeding animals, etc. As a result their hands are not the most clean and usually carry germs/bacteria. And this can be a concern.

Nowadays, small scale sanitary napkin manufacturing units have sprung up in rural areas. Such units promote the idea of locally manufactured low cost sanitary napkins as well as generate employment opportunities. “But these sanitary napkins crumble easily, are of poor quality and not much cheaper than existing commercial ones”, says Sinu. Also, very often the standards and tests prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards for Sanitary Napkins are not even assessed. Basic hygiene standards and sanitization of the product are not followed in the small-scale manufacturing units.

“We have come across quite a few women in villages who do not use any of the above products and bleed freely”, she says. “The women who bleed freely sometimes wear two undergarments, while some others use two underskirts and keep wiping the trickling blood with the skirts”.

Poor hygiene might result in rashes and bacterial infection and could cause a problem with white discharge. However, most menstrual disorders like dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, PCOS, endometriosis, amenorrhea, etc. have no proven connection to poor hygiene. With every product, there is a possible chance of bacterial infection if not used correctly. “Dismissing a product or promoting another is no guarantee of preventing rashes and infection. Instead, knowledge on the right way of using a product needs to be shared”, she adds.

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When Sangita Iyer received the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the then president, Sri Pranab Mukherjee, in 2017, she set an example not only for the people of her hometown Palakkad, Kerala but also for the people of India.

A Bachelor’s in Biology & Ecology, Masters in Environmental Education & Communications, and a Diploma in Broadcast Journalism, Sangita’s love for elephants began when she was only three years old. “I used to visit this amazing temple back in Kerala with my grandparents where I had bonded with a bull elephant,” Sangita reminisced. But, soon, she had to move to Canada for her higher studies, and that’s when life took over — things changed and the childhood memories faded.

Sangita has worked as a broadcaster for 11 years before making a transition into documentary and film-making. She has also been an environmental & health reporter and an anchorwoman for primetime news. “I transitioned because I felt there is a need to educate people about nature and environment using films — because sights, sounds, and images have a profound impact on people’s mind and it can change their attitude, their perspective as well,” Sangita highlights the need to get into film-making while sharing about her early career life.

“When I returned to India in 2013, I got reconnected with the elephants,” Sangita further continued. “I was here to attend my father’s first death anniversary. I also visited a few temples along with a conservationist friend and I was utterly shattered and devastated to see the plight of our precious majestic elephants that were being exploited for profit — that too behind the veil of religion! Our religion — Hinduism, in particular — teaches us ahimsa, compassion, love, and empathy. I felt horrible about seeing the misinterpretation and misrepresentation being conducted in the name of religion.”

Sangita strongly believes that we need to protect these sentient beings as they are ecologically sensitive and much needed for our own survival. In fact, the survival of many species depends on the survival of elephants. “It’s heartbreaking to see how elephants are treated in India — in a country where they are considered as the embodiment of Lord Ganesha. How come the general public is not seeing the suffering of these elephants? — the tears flowing down their face and the blood oozing out of their ankles,” she says in a choked voice.

Sangita believes that she was divinely guided to take up this mission — and work for this noble cause. There was a chain of synchronistic events that happened to bring her all through this. There is a dire need to create awareness, and thus, she also produced a film called ‘Gods in Shackles’. It’s been seven years since she started her mission to save the elephants and create awareness among the general public. She also started a non-profit organization called ‘Voice for Asian Elephants Society’ which conducts several projects and programs to support her cause.

Sangita says that the condition of animals and wildlife in India is dire and desperate and one of the major reasons, which she stresses enough times, is the growing population. “More humans means more development and more destruction. And of course, whatever we do to the earth is going to return to haunt us,” she says.

On asking if she holds any regret, she said that the only regret she holds is not starting this movement much earlier — probably some 20 years back when things started to deteriorate. And now that she is giving her every inch to this cause, she believes that there is no other way than naming and shaming the people who are making it worse for the animals and wildlife as a whole.

“What is happening to the wildlife — our non-humans brothers and sisters — is a projection of what’s happening with humanity at large. This is a plain misuse of knowledge for personal gain, and people need to acknowledge this truth. We are projecting our own suffering, and we need to deal with it,” Sangita continues as she believes this is the only way to sustain.

On talking about the future plans, she mentions her docuseries which is being made for the National Geographic Society and will be released by November. Her book, ‘Unshackled: How Elephants Guided My Life-Changing Odyssey’ is also going to be published by the end of this year.

Sangita plans to return back to India soon and focus on engaging the villagers and youth and empowering them to protect and preserve their mesmerizing natural world? After all, the young people hold the future of the planet in their hands, and we need to equip them with the best possible tool — education!

This Nari Shakti Puraskar Awardee Is Fighting For The Rights Of Elephants And Here’s Why!

While talking about how the aspiring social workers and entrepreneurs can do better for their cause, she says, “the only way forward is to collaborate. Each of us is highly skilled and capable of doing things. We just need to take a step back and reflect and use our skills. Nobody is helpless — don’t undermine yourself!”

Sangita invites the government to acknowledge the issue and take action on that. “Elephants thrive in a matriarchal society — women are the future of our planet. We must not suppress them. We need to balance the development and the protection of our nature and wildlife simultaneously. That’s how we can sustain,” Sangita ends it with a note to the readers hoping that they will get influenced and act on the issues.

On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. It asks you to experience elephants in non-exploitive and sustainable environments where elephants can thrive under care and protection.